One House Left by Vincent Ralph
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed One House Left. It deserves its comp to R.L. Stine, though this is better written…
I sort of totally kid. I love R.L. Stine and appreciate all of his work and his contribution to the Horror space. I still read his books today and will continue to do so, well, forever.
Anytime I see a new release compared to Stine’s stories, I am going to check it out. It’s the Publishers doing their work. They sold me. Sometimes it pays off, other times not so much. Happy to report it def paid off here.
This story follows 16-year old, Nate Campbell, who grew up on a cursed street, dubbed Murder Road, haunted by a vengeful spirit known only as The Hiding Boy.
Every few years a different house on the street is plagued by some sort of violent tragedy. Nate and his family, trying to outrun the curse, move to a new town at the start of this story and that is where we pick up with Nate.
We follow him as he navigates being the new kid, while also trying to outrun his past. Will he be able to do so? Is it even possible to escape from the clutches of Murder Road?
I was hooked into this one from the start. It was giving me total Fear Street vibes with the narration style and the way the MC, Nate, presented his story.
He was pulled into a clique of friends at his new school, led by the strong-willed, Max, who love learning about and exploring urban legends. Little did they know that Nate was actually living one.
Max seemed like such a cool girl to me. I loved her. Everything about the way she was described and the confidence with which she carried herself, she was def my fave in this one!
There’s all sorts of mystery throughout this story as well. I had so many questions. I didn’t really know what was going on half the time, purposefully on the author’s part, and it kept me hella intrigued.
People were acting strangely, Nate was receiving mysterious threatening messages, it wasn’t quite clear the circumstances under which Nate’s family left their old home; there was so much I wanted to know.
That’s one way to keep you furiously flipping pages!
There was a huge twist around the 70%-point, that legit left my jaw on the floor. I couldn’t believe what was happening and it totally changed my perspective on everything. I felt that was so well played by the author.
As far as reveals go, it was definitely one I did NOT expect!
I also loved the escalation of this story. It was like a snowball rolling down hill. The pacing was very well done.
There’s a lot that I appreciated about this story, but I won’t risk saying more because I don’t want to spoil anything. Just know, I was impressed.
Overall, I loved how the concept of Urban Legends was used by the author to tell this story. I found the characters so compelling, especially my girl, Max. As YA Horror novels go, this is at towards the top of the class!
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. This is the 2nd-book I have read from Vincent Ralph and I’m definitely seeing a progression in his work.
I look forward to reading more from him!